Episode 246 – It’s Corman’s World (we’re just living in it)

This week we pay tribute to the B-movie master himself Roger Corman with an informal discussion of the man, his work and his legacy. It’s another entry in our informal arc of episodes celebrating the underspoken icons of the genre.

So what is Corman’s legacy? He is responsible for the “Corman Film School” launching the careers of many industry heavyweights both in front of and behind the camera. He broke new ground for the independant filmmaker, credited with shaping modern Hollywood thanks to the foundation he laid leading up to Easy Rider. He was an accomplished guerrilla filmmaker, extending his influence to all those who had little more than idea to work with. He had the pulse of audiences throughout his career, from 50’s era creature features to bringing 60’s counter culture to the screen (biker flicks, acid flicks), to exploitation of the 70’s. He brought gothic horror to the screen with a succession of collaborations adapting the works of Edgar Allen Poe. He brought films to North America from legendary foreign directors such as Bergman, Fellini, and Kurosawa that might never have been appreciated. We’ll stop there in the interest of brevity but please join us as we express our appreciation for a true Hollywood
maverick – Roger Corman.

Schlock corner features a couple listener produced shorts in response to the callout for campfire tales. There’s the classic escaped killer at lookout point and a Pontypool-inspired drama that goes down during a radio broadcast. We wind things down with a quick take on Dark Shadows (2012) and a zombie movie recommendation The Dead (2010).